Hilton Head Summer
by clagjanet
Summary: Lee didn't really believe Amanda could keep a secret from him, but he should have known better. A story inspired by the Steno Pool, and set around the episode "Need to Know" (Season 4) Full kudos to CindyDee for inspiring it with one small suggestion.
1. Curiosity Killed the Cat

"_Amanda, I have been thinking about what we were talking about earlier and I have decided… no secrets."_

"_Good plan. Now you're really onto something"_

He was going to leave it alone. He really was. They'd agreed, after all, that if there were certain things they wanted to keep secret from each other, they'd honor that.

Amanda wouldn't ask him about some of the more embarrassing details about his past relationships (although for some reason, that didn't seem to extend to not joining in on teasing him when Francine got started) and in turn, he wouldn't ask for personal details about her marriage to Joe or about her connection to Jim Saarinen.

Except…

Except it making him _crazy_. It had all seemed like such a harmless little joke, the kind of thing he could pretend to hold over her head but was really an empty threat because it didn't mean anything. It was just a detail in her financial file that had landed in his lap at just the right moment that he could use it to remind her, in a _completely unthreatening_ way, that he was an intelligence agent who could, in fact, find out her secrets.

A big ha-ha moment for them both, right? But then Amanda had _reacted_. She'd gone pale, then scarlet, and suddenly she'd been aggressively defensive, if that made sense. It had gone from a joke to something personal that she was willing to fight him on – almost literally as Francine had discovered when she walked in with that file.

The odd thing was that although she had come up with an explanation - a workplace entanglement that had gone too far – he didn't actually believe her story, and in that instant, he'd gone from confident in his Amanda to wondering what exactly she was hiding… She'd been married with two very small boys in 1976 and nothing she'd ever said had led him to believe the early part of her marriage had been anything but happy. An affair just didn't fit in with anything he knew about Amanda, and he wouldn't have believed it even if he hadn't seen the financial notes in the first place.

In a normal world, with a regular partner, there was no way in hell he'd have seen those financial records. An agent's personal file was exactly that; you didn't need to know anything private about your partner that they didn't want you to know. Which was exactly how it should be, Lee acknowledged, even as he recognized that he and Amanda had just about the most irregular partnership ever. And why had he seen those files? Because of a long circuitous route that had begun with two simple words: "I'll co-sign".

He'd received the notice from the Agency Credit Union that the loan had been paid off about six months after they'd set it up. That hadn't surprised him – he'd watched Amanda manage money for years now and he knew it would have taken another financial catastrophe for her to miss making those payments and getting herself out of the hole. She was so fiercely independent about managing her finances that it had come as a pleasant surprise when she'd agreed to even let him in as far as a simple guarantor. This was, after all, a woman who had barely let him help buy a bag of groceries when her bank accounts were frozen; he suspected that if it hadn't been for two growing boys at home, she would have continued to hold out that day just from sheer pride.

The original loan had been set up with small manageable payments to be made over a year and he wasn't quite sure how she'd managed it in half the time but he thought it probably had something to do with Joe having come home and seeing first-hand the increase in expenses as the boys had gotten older. Amanda would never have asked for more child support, but the boys now had someone else to ask when they wanted things and with Joe's paternal guilt in full play, it seemed like Amanda's financial burdens had eased a little.

At any rate, the notice had arrived along with a note that the Credit Union that with her new status as a freshman agent, Amanda was now eligible for a line of credit, should she choose to accept the offer and if he would continue to act as the guarantor.

He hadn't even paused before ticking the "yes" box. Of course, he was going to do that - they were getting married, after all, and soon enough more than just their finances would be tied together. He had hung up the phone with a feeling of glee at this continuing reminder that they were going to build their future together - it wouldn't even be a question for Amanda whether he'd help out financially or any other way in her life. The smile hadn't left his face all afternoon just thinking about it.

The file had arrived for him to sign the next morning. He's been expecting just a simple authorization but for some reason, it came attached to a summary sheet of Amanda's financial history and credit rating. He'd glanced at it and his first thought had been "None of my business", but a beat later, he'd realized, it was about to become his business. He was going to have to set up paperwork whether or not their marriage was public, to make sure Amanda and the boys were looked after; wills, finances, next-of-kin notices, it was all going to have to be done. So this wasn't snooping, right? It was just… disclosure.

He'd listened to that little devil on his shoulder and he'd looked. There'd been absolutely nothing odd at first glance. Her credit rating was great – the loan was paid off and the Agency had fixed that little hiccup from her incorrectly reported death a few years back - and she had all of the regular, completely unsurprising elements listed. There was the mortgage, mostly paid off, car payments, credit card payments, taxes - all the usual suspects. Under income, there'd been her Agency pay, the child support payments, and an annuity from her father that produced a small amount every year which - he flipped to another page - was immediately paid into the boys' college fund. No alimony, of course, he noted with an eye roll, although given their situation that was for the best since she'd be committing fraud if she'd kept on taking it after their wedding but would have had to explain to Joe why she wasn't accepting it anymore.

All in all, it was exactly what he would have expected to see, until he'd flipped to the second page and seen that one little line: _"Quarterly payments: J. Saarinen, Alexandria Publishing"._

He'd sat back in his chair and studied that for a few moments. He knew that name, but couldn't place it. And why would Amanda be receiving regular payments from a publishing company? He knew she'd written short stories for her college newspaper, but she'd never mentioned actually publishing anything, especially something that was still earning her - he glanced across the page and his eyebrows shot upward as he did the math - a steady couple of grand every year? What the hell? He flipped back and forth through the file trying to figure out what it was but the only he could glean was that, like the annuity, the money was always transferred promptly into the boys' college fund.

But why had she never mentioned it? What on earth was it? It was the kind of extra money that would have made her comfortable and not so liable to be caught short by the kind of unexpected financial problems that had led to this loan in the first place. He glanced over to her empty desk, tapping the folder as it lay on his desk.

_Maybe there was something in her Personnel file?_

It took him less than a heartbeat to abandon that idea as completely inappropriate. That was definitely crossing the line on privacy and besides, she had no secrets from him – she was the most open, transparent person he'd ever met. Sure, she could lie to her mother at the drop of a hat these days, but she'd never lie to _him_. He could just ask her.

Another heartbeat and he'd abandoned that idea as well. If he asked, she'd want to know why he was asking and then he'd have to admit that he'd seen this file and even though it had come to him completely innocently, he knew it would bother her that he'd been "snooping". It was like him asking about her marriage all over again. Besides it hardly mattered – the Agency would have investigated all her finances when she joined, so it must be all above board.

It just bothered him a little, that's all, that she hadn't ever mentioned it, but hey, this was Amanda and he was certain that it didn't mean a thing.

In the end, she gave him the smallest opening to pry not more than a few days later. They'd been prepping a mission report for Billy and as he dictated, she had typed, never missing a beat and only stopping to remind him of clarifications or small details he'd omitted. When they were done and watching it print out, he'd shaken his head in amazed admiration.

"I've never seen anyone outside of a court stenographer type as fast as you do. If I'd had to do this, it would have been days late."

"It's just practice, really," Amanda shrugged as she assembled the report. "I worked my way through college typing up essays for people, and then when Joe was in law school, I had a part time job at a publisher helping with manuscripts and that kind of thing." She looked up and twinkled at him. "Remember? That was my big selling point to get a job here – 90 words a minute. Of course, I'm a lot faster now on this thing," She gestured at the computer. "Now that I don't have to stop and change paper or hit the keys hard enough to go through the carbon paper."

Lee saw the opening and couldn't resist. "Oh that's right. I remember that publisher job from your resumé. What company was that again?"

"Alexandria Publishing," she answered, absently. "They aren't a big company but they had a few bestsellers."

"What kind of things did you do there?"

"Oh, nothing too exciting." He could swear she was making an effort to avoid his eyes. "Helping authors from time to time. A bit of proofreading if they were short-handed, you know the kind of thing."

"I'm sure it was fascinating," he answered. "And I'm sure authors were very lucky to have your help. Just like I am." He leaned in to kiss her cheek, noticing again that she was blushing slightly and paying much too much attention to the report as she pushed it into his hands.

"There you go," she said in a suspiciously bright voice. "Don't forget Billy wants that before five o'clock."

"I won't forget," he promised. He headed for the door, then paused. Amanda was busily tidying up her desk and _definitely_ avoiding making eye contact. "You heading out?"

Her head came up and she smiled. "Yes, as soon as I'm done here. Phillip has a game tonight so dinner has to be early. You can come join us if you like."

He couldn't help wincing at the offer. It was her latest volley in an ongoing barrage of hints that he should come and meet the family properly and he just hadn't been able to work up his nerve yet. He'd met Dotty, of course, during that horrible week Amanda had been in Birol's clutches, but the idea of facing the inevitable interrogation from those three… he was less frightened of the KGB, honestly.

"I don't know," he hedged. "Don't you think you should give them more warning? They've barely even heard of me outside of the two of us going on the run together – I'd just be this stranger who shows up for family dinner."

To her credit, Amanda didn't even roll her eyes at his evasive techniques, but she wasn't going to make it easy either. "Sweetheart, you'll have to meet them at some point if we're getting married. They'll have more questions if the stranger just moves in one day."

"I know, I know," he nodded his head in rueful agreement. "And you know I want to - it just feels like we shouldn't just spring it on them, Shouldn't we just pretend to go on a few dates or something and let them get used to the idea before I start coming to dinner?"

"You're right," Amanda nodded. "We'll figure it out. After all, it's not like you're moving in tomorrow. For one thing, the house would have to be a lot bigger if you don't finish clearing out all your old souvenirs." She kissed him lightly to let him know she was teasing.

"Amanda…" he began to complain, but she laid a finger across his lips.

"After all, I think anything the boys come across isn't covered in our agreement, don't you?" She gave him another kiss and pushed him toward the door with a wink. "In fact, I think I'll point them in the direction of that shirt with the lipstick on it – you never did explain that one."

That's when it started to itch at him. She must have secrets too, right? She acted like she didn't, but nobody gets through life without having something they'd rather keep hidden and there was just something about the name Saarinen that gave him that feeling – that feeling he got when he was onto something good.

That's why, a few minutes later, when he passed the Agency research library on his way back from Billy's office, he somehow found himself turning in and approaching Suzanne, the librarian.

"Anything I can help you with, Agent Stetson?" she asked as he walked up. "It's rare I see you in here anymore, now that you have a partner who does the boring paper trail stuff for you."

He liked Suzanne – she was one of a small handful of women in the building who didn't simper at him and who teased him in much the same way as Amanda and Francine did.

"I'm interested in knowing about a company," he admitted. "Alexandria Publishing."

"Anything in particular?" Suzanne asked, turning to her keyboard to start pulling up information.

"Just the basics – who, what, where, that kind of stuff. It, uh, ties in with someone I'm interested in."

"Interested in for a case? Or just interested in?" Suzanne shot back, although her fingers continued to fly over the keys.

"Do you really need to ask?" he said, neatly avoiding answering.

"Not when I've seen how you make googly eyes at Amanda in the corridor when you think no one is watching," she snorted. "Okay, here's the basics – small publishing firm, established in the mid-60s, still in business, obviously. Publishes all sorts of things but seems to concentrate mostly on novels from lesser-known writers. They've had a few successful ones though – they really made a name for themselves with that Jim Saarinen novel."

Lee straightened up abruptly, that tingly feeling rushing over his skin. "Jim Saarinen?"

"You must remember that one – he was a one-book wonder back in the 70s. Never wrote again but he's probably still living off the money he made on that one." She studied her screen and grimaced. "Or not – there's a press release from Alexandria in 1977 that says he passed away suddenly."

"What was it called again?" asked Lee, his mind racing.

"_Hilton Head_. You must have read it – everyone in here did, back in the day, because it had spies in it."

"Yeah, I think I remember it," said Lee. He was silent for a few minutes, then asked, "But he's dead?"

"Yes," replied Suzanne. She read out loud from her screen. "Jim Saarinen, famed novelist of the best-selling _Hilton Head_, who began his career as an office boy at Alexandria Publishing, died this week from a sudden illness. He left no family. All of us here at Alexandria Press will miss him." She glanced down the screen, frowning. "Odd that we don't have any other kind of notices of that, but I guess if he had no family, there was no one to make a fuss."

"I guess so," said Lee, absently, frustrated that this might be a literal dead end. "One more question: other than the author, who would still be making money from a book after it's published?"

"Well, the publisher obviously, and in this case anyone the author designated as his heir. The royalties wouldn't die with him, so if he left the rights to anyone, they'd still be making something. Books don't go into public domain with the death of the author."

"Thanks, Suzanne," Lee said, heading for the door. "That gives me some very promising leads."

The next day, Lee stopped at two bookstores on the way home before finally finding a copy of "_Hilton Head_" in a secondhand store. As soon as he saw it, he remembered the cover and how it had been in the window of every bookstore in DC that summer. He skimmed the back cover to refresh his memory, smiling at how it took him back to that time when he was a young agent. Of course he'd read it back then - everyone in the country had probably read the book that summer, whether they admitted it or not. It had come out in 1976 and despite being billed as a kind of coming-of-age novel, it had been picked up by a New York Times reviewer who had sung its praises as something a little different – a little more humorous, a little more emotionally interesting – and a lot more sexy than most books of the time. It was considered so racy in fact that it had shot to the top of the best seller list on the same day that editorials in newspapers across the South called for it to be banned from local bookstores and libraries.

It wasn't the kind of book Lee normally read but everyone had been talking about it and back in those days he'd spent a lot of time on planes, always with a paperback or two in his bag to pass the time. He hadn't expected much; despite the reviews, he was sure he'd be annoyed by the inevitable errors in describing the life of an intelligence agent. Instead he'd ended up reading it straight through one night in a hotel in Bangkok, intrigued by the plot and laughing out loud at the antics of the couple at the center. The hero in the story had been a handsome but self-deprecating charmer who had seemed to be a conman in the early part of the story, only to be revealed as a steely blue-eyed avenger who saved the world in the end. It was the girl in the story who had stuck with Lee though – a stubborn college student who had been pulled into the plot by accident, with a mix of innocence and worldly-wise common sense who gave as good as she got and was one of the few who didn't fall for the hero's charms until he had learned to appreciate her.

Lee paused and chuckled to himself just thinking about it. _That could have been me and Amanda… _

Thinking of Amanda reminded him of why he had this book in his hand at all. After buying it and collecting some takeout on the way, he'd settled in to read it as soon as he got home.

It was pretty much as he remembered, although he'd forgotten that the author had written it mostly from the girl's point of view. Whatever kind of man Jim Saarinen had been, he'd seemed to have a lot of insight into women, and the heroine, Annie, was immensely likable. Brave but klutzy, funny but kind, with brown eyes and an attitude.

_Annie paused, hands on her hip and glared at him. "Why on earth would I agree to this?"_

_Jameson folded his arms and stared back at her. "Because if you don't, the Scorpion will get everything he needs to release the virus right here in Charleston!"_

"_Oh my gosh!"_

"Oh my gosh?" Lee's mind began to race as it all fell into place – _this_ was why Amanda was so embarrassed. This girl didn't just sound like Amanda, it _was_ Amanda.

She and Saarinen had obviously known each other if he'd left his royalties to her but they must have been very close for him to understand Amanda this well…Lee flipped to the front of the book, and found what he was looking for on the dedication page.

"_For the Kings: I couldn't have done it without you."_

Lee shook his head – well that settled it, but Saarinen had been friends with Joe as well? He'd have to be for Joe not to have killed him after the way those love scenes had been written – unless that had been the beginning of the end of their marriage? _Or that's really how Saarinen died… _Lee barked out a laugh at the thought.

He closed the book and stared at the ceiling. Amanda as the inspiration for a heroine in a novel? It made perfect sense to him now, although he would have laughed it off as insane when they'd first met. _She must find it embarrassing because she's never said a thing about it_, he mused. _Not even when she's been living a spy novel for years now…_

He started to grin at the idea that formed next. If she didn't want to explain this little tidbit, she's probably be willing to make a deal…


	2. Satisfaction Brought It Back

"_The Petrovich twins were a tiny little chapter in my past that I would rather have kept secret but no, you had to read the report, remember?"_

"_Yeah, I remember, yeah, I… yes I do. I do remember that. I gotta admit it. I do."_

"_And since there were no little goodies in your past that usually come up under "the line of duty", I thought that the Jim Saarinen file would make a fair trade…"_

It had been bugging him for days now, her reaction to that exchange. What had Francine said? Don't bother to explain, it'll only make it worse? It really had – he wished now that he had never asked, had never let that seed of doubt creep into his certainty in Amanda. If she was lying and saying she'd had an affair to cover something up, then how bad was the thing she was covering up? It was eating him up and he had no one to blame but himself because he'd been curious.

And maybe the whole thing had been getting to her too, because it was Amanda that finally broke the silence they'd allowed to build up.

They were at his apartment, having dinner, and out of nowhere, she'd blurted out "How did you find out about _Hilton Head_?"

He should have known it would be bothering her too. As he'd pointed out, she had nothing in her past that would have come up under the line of duty, so he'd had to go personal, and really, how could he have found out without snooping? He seized the bull by the horns.

"I didn't go looking if that's what you're worried about," he began. "It was just a line in your finances. It wasn't any of my business and I shouldn't have read it and I'm sorry."

Amanda blinked. "You've been checking my finances?" she asked, looking appalled. "Why would you do that?"

"No! No, no, of course not!" he rushed to answer. "I wouldn't do that!"

Amanda lifted an eyebrow and waited.

"The credit union sent them to me when they were setting up your credit line, because I was listed as the guarantor" he admitted, hastily, realizing even as he said it what a feeble excuse it was. "It was just one line in your income and when you were bugging me about my past…"

"You thought you should dig up dirt on me to get even?"

Oh great, she sounded hurt now – and he deserved it.

"No! I just thought…"

"You just thought Jim Saarinen was my Petrovich twins?" She had put down her cutlery and folded her arms now.

"Not really?" he offered, hesitantly. "I mean, I thought it was odd you never mentioned knowing him… he was pretty famous after all."

Amanda nodded. "Pretty famous for being a recluse."

"Yeah, I mean… I know he's dead but if I'd ever met someone like J.D. Salinger, I'd sure have told you about it!"

Amanda burst out laughing. "Did you seriously just compare "_Hilton Head_" to "_The Catcher in the Rye_"?"

"You know what I mean! I mean, he's kind of famous – why wouldn't you ever mention knowing him? And why would you lie about having had an affair with him?"

Amanda stopped laughing abruptly, eyes wide with shock. "You knew I was lying?"

Lee waved that off with a hand motion. "I know _you_, Amanda. You wouldn't have cheated on Joe in a million years. And if you had, you certainly wouldn't still be profiting off it to the tune of $2000 a year!"

"I don't profit off it!" she defended herself, hotly. "That money goes -"

"Into the boys' college fund. I know – it was in the file," he answered. "So what's the real story then?"

"What do you mean, the real story?" Amanda asked.

"Well, you know that I know that the other story wasn't true and you must want to tell me since you brought it back up – so tell me the real story. What really went on between you and Jim Saarinen?"

Amanda had deflated slightly, and picked up her fork to poke it absently around her plate again. "You'll think it's dumb."

"No I won't," he said – too quickly, based on how her eyes came up to narrow at him. "It's like I said – I know you and nothing you can say will make me think any less of you."

Amanda studied him silently for a few moments. "Fine," she muttered. "You're right – I didn't have an affair with Jim Saarinen. We were much closer than that."

"I can tell," he said, dryly. Off her look, he added, "I started rereading it the other night – Annie was obviously based on you."

She looked crestfallen. "You could tell?"

"Well, once she said 'Oh my gosh', I could," he teased. "And she had a birthmark in exactly the same place as you."

"She did not!" Amanda exclaimed. "I would never –."

"Never have let him include identifying marks?" chuckled Lee. "No, I was kidding about that. It was just that, once I started thinking about it, I could see you all over the character – not in the way she looked, but in the way she viewed the world." He paused and went on softly, "You and Saarinen must have been very close."

"You could say that," she replied with a quick grin. "He knew me pretty well."

Lee stared at her, trying to decipher the twinkle in her eye before he saw the obvious. "Joe! Joe wrote the book!"

Amanda let out a yelp of laughter. "That's what you think? That Joe wrote a racy novel in between law classes?"

Lee looked crestfallen, so certain he'd been right. "Well, it would have made sense – you said you and Saarinen were close and those sex scenes were hot."

Amanda gave another husky chuckle and lifted a brow. "They certainly were, weren't they?" She looked at him challengingly. "Did you enjoy them?"

There was a long silence and then Lee's jaw dropped open. Amanda began to laugh harder.

"You," he breathed out. "_You_ wrote "_Hilton Head_"!

Amanda nodded, laughing too hard to answer properly.

"I don't believe it," Lee said, even though as soon as he said that out loud, he knew he did. "How…? Why…?"

"Joe had a lot of student loans to pay off and I was home, pregnant with Jamie, with Phillip underfoot and I had a typewriter," Amanda shrugged. "I just worked away at it in bits and pieces over the better part of a year and then took it to one of my bosses at Alexandria for an opinion. I didn't really think it would go anywhere but it turned out they were looking to expand into light fiction and my timing was perfect." Her grin broadened at his dumbstruck look. "I told you I used to have fantasies about secret agents."

At that, Lee's sense of humor finally caught up to the rest of his brain and he let out a crack of laughter. "Oh my God – you really wrote it."

Amanda nodded again. "I really did."

Lee surveyed her, sorting out the facts in his head and lining things up with this new reality. It made perfect sense except for one thing. "Why did you stop? It was a huge success. Why didn't you write more?"

"Oh well," she gave a self-deprecating shrug. "I really only wrote that one to help with the student loans. I had Jamie by then and I didn't really have time to spend writing and besides, Joe had just graduated and was about to start his law career and if it had ever come out about who Jim Saarinen really was, that would have been a terrible reflection on him – what would his bosses say if it came out that his wife wrote a sexy novel? I mean, we couldn't take that chance."

Lee nodded as the rest of it fell into place. "So that's why he had to die?"

"Jim? Yes," she replied. "People were starting to sniff around trying to figure out who it was and I talked it over with Joe and my editors and we decided to just bump him off."

"That was pretty final," said Lee. "What if you'd wanted to write another one?"

"Oh well, then a lost manuscript would have shown up, I guess," Amanda gave him a quick smile. "But I didn't want to. It had been fun to write but the attention from the book was so overwhelming, trying to keep it a secret and always worrying someone would figure it out."

"Sounds a lot like your life now," he commented.

"A little bit," she conceded. "But the whole world isn't trying to figure out Amanda King."

"I am," he twinkled at her. "But she keeps coming up with amazing new stuff about herself."

Amanda beamed back at him. "Anyway, the book did what we need it to. We paid off the student loans and we even got a down payment for the house."

"So that's why you got the house in the divorce?" Lee hazarded. "Because you'd paid for it?"

"Pretty much," she agreed. "But Joe would have made sure the boys stayed in their home anyway – you know he's a good guy."

"He is," Lee nodded. "Wait a second – if you're Annie, is he Jameson?"

"Well, of course he is," Amanda answered immediately. "I wasn't going to base my hero on anyone else, was I?"

"I suppose not." Lee's face changed as another thought occurred to him. "You know, Amanda… the day we met – at the train station? When I used the Munich maneuver?"

Amanda began to giggle at his look of dawning realization. "Oh believe me, I know, Buster! You stole that right out of the book! _You have to help me, I'm in trouble, deliver this to the authorities_!" she mimicked. "Why do you think I was so annoyed when you first grabbed me? I couldn't believe someone would actually try that on me, of all people!"

"I used it in Munich right after reading the book," he grinned. "I couldn't believe it really worked."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Oh, you would not believe how many times I heard stories about boys using that technique to try and pick up girls that summer! At first, when you stopped me, I thought it was a college hazing thing or something. But you seemed too old for that and then I just thought, what's the harm? Take the package, help you out with whatever prank you were pulling, drive home. Boy was I wrong!"

"Any regrets?" he grinned at her.

"Not a one," she smiled back, lifting her glass in a toast.

Lee toasted her back and then turned serious. "You know, I really am sorry I ever looked into it, even as a joke."

"You are?" Amanda looked surprised at the admission.

"Yeah," he replied. "Our whole time together I've asked you to keep secrets and lie for me and God knows, I certainly worked hard to keep you from finding out anything personal about me at first and now, just when we're finally at a place together where we can be more open with each other, I go snooping into your past. That wasn't fair and I'm sorry."

"Well, if we're finally at that place together, then it was time I told you anyway," she answered, reaching to take his hand. "You were bound to find out sooner or later."

"Yeah, but it should have been when you chose to tell me," he said. "Not from me peeking at some form."

Amanda tilted her head and gazed back at him. "That's true. Maybe you should feel bad." Her mouth quirked up in the mischievous smile he loved – and feared.

"How bad?" he asked, fighting to keep from smiling himself, although it was obvious he wasn't succeeding when her smile got broader.

"Well, remember those secret agent fantasies I mentioned?" she purred.

"Yeah?" he said hopefully.

Amanda stood up and walked around to his side of the table. Lee pushed back his chair and she settled into his lap, beginning to play with his hair as his hands came to rest around her waist.

"Do you remember Chapter 28?" she murmured.

Lee shook his head, trying not to laugh. "No, you'll have to remind me."

Amanda lowered her head until her lips grazed his ear, her warm breath sending a frisson of desire down his spine. "That's the one where they…" Her voice lowered until Lee could barely hear her, his whole body tense as he strained to make it out, his breathing growing heavier as she reminded him of the chapter's plot.

Amanda stood up, leaving a practically paralyzed Lee in his chair as she walked toward the bedroom, hips swaying. She stopped in the doorway and lifted one eye brow suggestively "I think that might be a good place to start, don't you? Big Fella?"

Lee shot to his feet and advanced on her, grinning. "I think that's an excellent place to start."


End file.
